I see Super Eagles in World Cup final, says Adegoke Adelabu

A member of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Study Group, former Green Eagles’ winger, Adegoke Adelabu says the Super Eagles have the potentials of winning the FIFA World Cup slated for Russia in June.

Adelabu, who was part of the Green Eagles’ squad to Libya ’82 African Nations Cup, was recently named by the NFF as member of the Technical Study Group alongside the likes of Abba Yola, Taribo West, Bernard Ogbe Augustine ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, Tijjani Babangida, Victor Agali, Godwin Enakhena, Mike Idoko and Bitrus Bewarang.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, the former IICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan winger said that Nigeria, like any other nation stands the chance of winning the World Cup in Russia if the national team is given the right preparation.

“I don’t want to be part of those saying that the Super Eagles cannot progress beyond the group stage or second round. No, we have what it takes to be in the final and even win the World Cup trophy. Limiting our chances to the second round or the quarterfinal is like saying the Super Eagles should not go to Russia.

“We have already known our group opponents and the most important thing to do now is to work on intelligence of our players. We have to know the area of strength and weakness of our opponents. I am happy the NFF has already lined up series of friendly matches for the Super Eagles as build up to the World Cup. But it is also important for us to have in-house programmes to let our coaches understand what they should expect from the players.

As I always say, the development of a sport is reflected in nation’s ability to modify the training, participation and competitive strategy of the athletes. We should focus on winning the World Cup and not targeting the second round or quarterfinal. I am optimistic we can win the World Cup in Russia because we have the players,” Adelabu, a sports scientist stated.